Now we are being told on all sides that yesterday's
election puts to rest once and for all the question
whether an individual vote counts. Certainly that is what
the president is telling us.

A good rule: Anything the president says is prima facie
false.

If anything, this election is showing us quite the opposite.
Throughout the night we were told that the election was
too close to call in Oregon and Wisconsin. Even as I
write, the results in those states have not yet been
determined. But guess what. They don't matter.

Whoever wins Florida, wins the presidency.

It doesn't matter whether Bush gets 100 percent of the votes in
Oregon or Gore gets 100 percent of the votes in Wisconsin.

It wouldn't matter if it turned out that there were no votes
cast in those states. Every Oregonian and every
Wisconsinian could have stayed home yesterday, and it
would not have affected the outcome of this presidential
election.

Everyone who voted for Bush in California could have
stayed home without affecting the outcome of this
election. Everyone who voted for Gore in Texas could
have stayed home without affecting the outcome of
it.

Moreover, I say to each of you who voted, no matter what
state you live in (even if it's Florida): if you had stayed
home yesterday, the Electoral vote for your state would
be the same as it was said to be last night. Only you who
voted for a third-party candidate and who were honest
about knowing that your guy wouldn't win accomplished
what you set out to do.